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28 Berkeley La Raza L.J. 103 (2018)
When Risk Turns into Reality: The Canaries in the Oil Wells of California

handle is hein.journals/berklarlj28 and id is 103 raw text is: WHEN RISK TURNS INTO REALITY: THE CANARIES IN THE OIL WELLS OF CALIFORNIA DIEGO GARCIA* INTRODUCTION ............................................ 103 I. PART ONE: PROBABLE RISK ............................ .....104 A. The Valid Expert .........................................104 B. Los Angeles and Kern County ...............................105 C. Resilience as Environmental Justice..................................106 D. Grassroots Expertise: Narratives, Stories, Citizen Efforts...................108 E. Awareness of Risk and Preparedness ................................109 II. PART TWO: NGOs & GOVERNMENT ...........111...........111 A. When Hazards are Desirable. ............................113 III. PART THREE: A NEW THEORETICAL APPROACH? ... ..............114 A. Socialist Ecology . .................................... 115 B. EcoFeminism .................................. ..... 115 CONCLUSION ........................................ ...... 116 INTRODUCTION Despite the emergence and popularization of environmental justice movements, racial injustice in toxic environments remains highly pervasive and obscured. Claims of racial injustice from environmental hazards have been continuously disputed by experts. As a result, the very meaning and perceived reality of environmental risk has been predominantly shaped by scientific expertise.' In particular, current assessments of hydraulic fracturing in California present a clear case study to understand racially differentiated risk. By virtue of exposure to environmental hazards, people of color in California face the biggest health risk from their surrounding environment. This logic of racially differentiated risk is environmental racism. Robert Bullard defines environmental racism as any policy, practice, or directive that differentially affects or disadvantages (whether intended or unintended) individuals, groups, or communities based on race or color.2 Furthermore, environmental racism DOI: https://doi.org/10.15779/Z38CZ32521 * University of California, Berkeley, B.A. I offer my sincerest gratitude to Professor Jessica Walker, who offered her unconditional support and valuable insight in the development of my thesis. A special thanks to the editors of the Berkeley La Raza Law Journal for the opportunity to help bring environmental racism to light. Your guidance is deeply appreciated. To those living to fight another day in toxic environments, this project is dedicated to you. 1. SHELDON RAMPTON & JOHN STAUBER, TRUST US, WE'RE EXPERTs! How INDUSTRY MANIPULATES SCIENCE AND GAMBLES WITH YOUR FUTURE (2002). 2. Robert D. Bullard, Environmental Justice in the 21st Century: Race Still Matters, 49 PHYLON 151, 160 (2001).

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